Running Wild

"In ninety days you're going to lose everything." Stella Davis (Pham) has recently lost her husband and is in danger of losing her ranch. Looking for ways to raise money she decides to try and tame a herd of wild horses on her property and sell them. Needing help she begins to work with convicts in a rehabilitation program where they work with the horses. Things are going great until Meredith (Stone) shows up and tries to convince everyone what Stella is doing is a danger to the horses. This is a movie I wasn't expecting anything out of at all. I was thinking it was going to be a cheesy hallmark type movie. There's nothing wrong with movies like that, they just aren't my thing. While this film did have shades of that for sure this was much much better than I was expecting. It brought up some very interesting ideas and it made me think, which is something I wasn't expecting to do watching this. Overall, there are a few swear words in this but besides that this is a pretty good family movie that talks about deeper aspects than the Hallmark movie I was expecting. I liked this and surprisingly give this a B+.

This is a movie about second chances. If you're an animal , horse loving person, this is a hearty film about second chances. It's also surprising to see in the end credits that Sharon Stone is also the producer although her role in the film is more of the usual conniving queen bee. It's good to know that she gives way for younger, less established actors to shine.

This was 1½ hours of life wasted. It was a struggle to hang on to the - utterly predictable - end.

Now this is a soft drama if you want to call it that. It has all the ingredients a movie like this needs, with heightened drama/problems, bad guys lurking around to make life difficult and other obstacles our main protagonist has to overcome. Of course she also gets a helping hand, by a good looking guy, with a dark past... that's just the way it is.

Talking about a dark past, you may recognize one of the supporting actors as a member of a TV show called "Sons of Anarchy". There is a bit of typecasting you could say, but it works in its favor. It really is nothing special overall and while I'm not spoiling anything about the thin story, it'd be a surprise if you were surprised by where the movie is heading.

Well, I am probably as bias as they come when commenting on any horse film in general since the majestic animals always capture my love & admiration.

"Running Wild" is a heartwarming family film about second chances & the courage within us all to rise up to the challenges we face in life. It's mostly a feel good film with a healthy dose of heart & soul, and although I feel no show I've seen as yet involving horses can hold a candle to the "Heartland" series, this one definitely has its' moments that pull at the heart strings.

With decent acting, it moves at a leisurely pace, more concerned about allowing the viewer time to absorb the beautiful relationships between horses & humans that can have a positive impact in both our lives, rather than galloping full speed ahead as we miss out on one of the more fundamental things in life ... simple connections with others, whether man or beast.